Strasbourg, 29 June 2010 -
“Political Financing: GRECO’s first 22 evaluations” focuses on
three key topics examined by GRECO during its current Third
Evaluation Round, namely the transparency of political funding,
monitoring compliance with existing regulations and the penalties
for those who breach those regulations. The report brings to
light weaknesses that are common to several political systems and
suggests the transposition of positive practices identified. As
the author of this innovative study, Mr Yves-Marie DOUBLET
(France), points out in the introduction, although political
systems can differ significantly from one member state to another,
the principles set out in the
Council of Europe Recommendation (2003) 4 on common rules against
corruption in the funding of political parties and electoral
campaigns are “common to all these countries and are of
critical importance to them, whatever the form of their
institutions, because they share the same democratic values.” The
report contains a number of conclusions emphasising, inter alia,
the importance of proper disclosure and truly effective monitoring
of financial information of parties and election candidates. It
also calls for a more general discussion to highlight the
interdependence of the different problems identified. For such an
approach, the Council of Europe Recommendation – which is the only
international text laying down these key elements of a smooth
functioning democracy – provides an excellent basis. Clearly,
debate on political financing is far from over and further input
is to be expected from GRECO’s on-going evaluation work. At the
end of the Third Evaluation Round, a total of 47 member states
will have been evaluated against the standards of the
Recommendation. The action taken by member states to implement
GRECO’s recommendations is assessed in a specific compliance
procedure.